Patterns of teachers' responses to school bullying and their associations with training, self-efficacy, and age: A moderated mediation model.

Abstract

Bullying remains a pervasive issue in educational settings worldwide. This study examined the effect of teacher training and self-efficacy on teachers' responses to school bullying with the moderating effect of age. Drawing on data from 585 Taiwanese primary and secondary school teachers, the study revealed six distinct response patterns to bullying among Taiwanese teachers. The results underscore the critical role of self-efficacy in enabling proactive responses to bullying, highlighting that training programs that boost teachers' self-efficacy can be effective across different age groups. Furthermore, the research points to the necessity of differentiated training approaches that consider teachers' age to enhance responses of mediating involvers. This study contributes to the broader discourse on bullying prevention, emphasizing the importance of teacher training and the need for further research into the nuanced relationships between teacher characteristics, self-efficacy, and intervention strategies in diverse cultural settings.